Ficlet: "Dominoes" (Neville/Cho)
Feb. 17th, 2008 08:37 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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rarepair_shorts
Title: Dominoes
Character Pairing: Neville/Cho
Prompt: one by one
Rating: G
Word Count: 684
Summary: A young man’s first meeting with brilliance.
Author's Notes: dominoes was the first thing that popped in my head for some reason. Feel free to criticize as well as comment :)
Link to Prompt Table: prompt table
“Neville, she likes dominoes and that is all I know about her. Just keep Cho and yourself out of sight till Mr. Chang and I are done. We have some very important business to attend to and it won’t do to have children running about the house like a pack of wild animals,” his grandmother had said tartly to him that morning after he’d asked for the third time what she thought he should do with the visiting girl.
So, here he was, three hours later and only ten minutes away from Mr. Chang and Cho’s arrival, without a clue as to what a ten year old girl and a nine year old boy might have to talk about. A knock at the door from Miana, their house elf, shocked him from his thoughts and he hurriedly opened the door, ready for the worst.
“Your Grandmother is telling me that Mr. Chang and his little Miss are here now and that you should come to greet them Master Neville,” the house elf said in its odd mellow tone.
“Thank you Miana,” Neville said kindly as he straightened his collar for the seventh time in the mirror and made his way out of the room.
Before he had finished descending the stairs he saw a pleasant looking gentleman with brownish skin and a thick black head of hair holding the hand of a girl whose hair was as black as her fathers and her skin just as brown. “You must be Neville Longbottom. Your grandmother has told me a lot about you,” the man said with an accent Neville didn’t recognize.
Neville’s curiosity was piqued as he wondered what it was his grandmother said about him. “Yes sir,” he said, somewhat unsure of what to say next.
The man smiled again and said, “This is my daughter, Cho.”
“Would you like to play dominoes?”
The girl smiled shyly at that. “All right.”
“They’re in the game room. I’ll show you where it’s at,” Neville said as completed his descent down the stairs, marveling at how he was a head taller than her despite their being the same age
“Have a good time Cho,” her father said as he subtly nudged the girl towards Neville.
Neville sat at the long table, entranced by the delicate motions the girl made as she set each domino in its proper place, one by one. She’d been at it for the last half hour, but it had only felt like a few minutes to him. There seemed to be a pattern to the way the dominoes were set, but he couldn’t quite figure it out yet and he didn’t want to bother her with any stupid questions, so he sat in silence, waiting for what he was certain would be a wonderful creation.
As she set them up they asked each other various questions and came up with their own theories as to what their respective families were talking about and despite his initial nervousness Neville found himself liking his new visitor quite a bit.
The girl placed one more down and then circled the table once before saying, “I think if you tap this domino first, they should all follow suit.”
Neville stood up nervously, afraid that even the slightest movement might make it all fall apart. He cautiously walked to where Cho was standing and looked out over the dominoes again. “It’s your name. You spelled it with the dominoes,” he said quietly.
The girl just smiled shyly at that. “Well, go on and tap the domino Neville.”
“Are you sure,” he asked incredulously. It seemed wrong to him somehow to destroy something she had spent so much time working on.
“Of course, we can make something better after it’s done.”
“Alright,” he said as he leaned in and tapped the lone domino forming the beginning of the C in her name. The reaction was instantaneous. Domino after domino tumbled along the set pattern without veering off or falling to the wayside once it had been knocked down. He watched as it finally worked its way through the “h” in her name and hit the “o”, ending with a resounding echo as the last domino fell.
“Brilliant,” he whispered. Cho blushed a little at the compliment. “Let’s try your name now Neville,” she suggested as she started to gather all of the dominoes together again.
Character Pairing: Neville/Cho
Prompt: one by one
Rating: G
Word Count: 684
Summary: A young man’s first meeting with brilliance.
Author's Notes: dominoes was the first thing that popped in my head for some reason. Feel free to criticize as well as comment :)
Link to Prompt Table: prompt table
“Neville, she likes dominoes and that is all I know about her. Just keep Cho and yourself out of sight till Mr. Chang and I are done. We have some very important business to attend to and it won’t do to have children running about the house like a pack of wild animals,” his grandmother had said tartly to him that morning after he’d asked for the third time what she thought he should do with the visiting girl.
So, here he was, three hours later and only ten minutes away from Mr. Chang and Cho’s arrival, without a clue as to what a ten year old girl and a nine year old boy might have to talk about. A knock at the door from Miana, their house elf, shocked him from his thoughts and he hurriedly opened the door, ready for the worst.
“Your Grandmother is telling me that Mr. Chang and his little Miss are here now and that you should come to greet them Master Neville,” the house elf said in its odd mellow tone.
“Thank you Miana,” Neville said kindly as he straightened his collar for the seventh time in the mirror and made his way out of the room.
Before he had finished descending the stairs he saw a pleasant looking gentleman with brownish skin and a thick black head of hair holding the hand of a girl whose hair was as black as her fathers and her skin just as brown. “You must be Neville Longbottom. Your grandmother has told me a lot about you,” the man said with an accent Neville didn’t recognize.
Neville’s curiosity was piqued as he wondered what it was his grandmother said about him. “Yes sir,” he said, somewhat unsure of what to say next.
The man smiled again and said, “This is my daughter, Cho.”
“Would you like to play dominoes?”
The girl smiled shyly at that. “All right.”
“They’re in the game room. I’ll show you where it’s at,” Neville said as completed his descent down the stairs, marveling at how he was a head taller than her despite their being the same age
“Have a good time Cho,” her father said as he subtly nudged the girl towards Neville.
Neville sat at the long table, entranced by the delicate motions the girl made as she set each domino in its proper place, one by one. She’d been at it for the last half hour, but it had only felt like a few minutes to him. There seemed to be a pattern to the way the dominoes were set, but he couldn’t quite figure it out yet and he didn’t want to bother her with any stupid questions, so he sat in silence, waiting for what he was certain would be a wonderful creation.
As she set them up they asked each other various questions and came up with their own theories as to what their respective families were talking about and despite his initial nervousness Neville found himself liking his new visitor quite a bit.
The girl placed one more down and then circled the table once before saying, “I think if you tap this domino first, they should all follow suit.”
Neville stood up nervously, afraid that even the slightest movement might make it all fall apart. He cautiously walked to where Cho was standing and looked out over the dominoes again. “It’s your name. You spelled it with the dominoes,” he said quietly.
The girl just smiled shyly at that. “Well, go on and tap the domino Neville.”
“Are you sure,” he asked incredulously. It seemed wrong to him somehow to destroy something she had spent so much time working on.
“Of course, we can make something better after it’s done.”
“Alright,” he said as he leaned in and tapped the lone domino forming the beginning of the C in her name. The reaction was instantaneous. Domino after domino tumbled along the set pattern without veering off or falling to the wayside once it had been knocked down. He watched as it finally worked its way through the “h” in her name and hit the “o”, ending with a resounding echo as the last domino fell.
“Brilliant,” he whispered. Cho blushed a little at the compliment. “Let’s try your name now Neville,” she suggested as she started to gather all of the dominoes together again.
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Date: 2008-02-18 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-21 01:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-18 06:14 am (UTC)I really like this pairing, eventhough I've never read them before. haha. This was just so cute! ♥
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Date: 2008-02-21 01:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-20 02:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-21 01:35 pm (UTC)